How Thermometers Work: Digital Thermometers

Thermometers are instrumental to the cooking process. A thermometer is a great tool to use to determine if your food is fully cooked, safe and ready to eat! This is part 3 of the “How Thermometers Work” series and we will explain how to use a digital thermometer!

A digital thermometer has one big difference that a Digital thermometer has over a dial or mercury thermometer – it can provide an instant reading of temperature when inserted into food It’s actually quite interesting, the way a digital thermometer works is completely different from the old school thermometers. The hotter a piece of metal, the harder it will be for electric current to flow through the piece of metal. A digital thermometer will send a tiny electric current through the metal probe, the thermometer then measures how easy the current flows through the metal probe to measure how easy the current flow is. The easier the flow is the cooler the food is, and coincidentally the harder the current flow is, the hotter the food is.

Using the digital thermometer is very similar to other thermometers. You should insert the metal pointed stem 2 – 2 ½” deep into the thickest part of the food you are measuring. It will instantly and accurately read the temperature of your food. This thermometer is perfect for all types of food such as poultry, meat, casseroles and soups. When measuring thin pieces of meat, be sure you insert the probe through the side of the cut of meat and not through the top. Unlike the mechanical thermometers you can use some digital thermometers in the oven or barbecue, but before doing so read the instruction on the package to be sure that the thermometer you are using is oven and barbecue safe!

To calibrate the digital thermometer check out our previous blog Facts about Thermometers for all the information needed to calibrate! I hope you enjoyed this blog. To see our selection of Digital Thermometers check out the CCI Webpage for USA or Canada! Next in our series the Discriminating Chef will break down the different types of temperature scales being used. Til next time!